once and then again
by Update Bug
Summary: No one knows what happens after death. What if someone did? When Ichigo and his friends start to meet some very familiar people they know something is wrong. will they be dragged back into a world that, literaly, killed them? Reincarnation fic. first four chapters have been edited and replaced.
1. Chapter 1

Once and then again

Prologue

Even Shinigami don't know what happens after death.

Oh they know enough and certainly more than the humans know but there is still something that they can't predict, something that even they don't know. The shinigami have no idea what happens if a Shinigami is struck down by a blade. They are what happens after death but even they can die and they, just like humans have no idea what will come. It is that uncertainty that fear of what is to come that keeps them-just a little bit-alive. No one wants to die but it's not the dying itself that they fear. It's what comes after, the oblivion, the solitude, the punishment or the reward that is what people are afraid of and that is why, from the new born human, to the eldest Shinigami we all cling to life, to family, to friends because above all it is a basic human trait not to want to be alone.

Even hollows don't know what happens after death.

They know what happens to the ones they eat of course and they know what happens to the souls and the shinigami that they hunt, that is simple enough, those souls are dinner. They don't however know what happens to themselves, what happens to the hollows that are cleansed by a shinigami's blade. They are animals in every sense of the word, driven by hunger and instinct and need and yet…they fear death. Each time they fight a shinigami, every time they are cut down, they scream. They too, just like the Shinigami, just like the humans, fear death. It is that, that little spark, that fear that keeps, even the blood thirstiest most soul-less just a little bit human.

Humans know even less then the Shinigami and hollow, out of the three they are the only ones who are alive. They are the ones that death has touched the least, after all they have never experienced it like the other two have done. As such they are the ones that know the least about death, even as they watch the people around them fall they don't experience it and one they do they are no longer classified as human. They are souls.

No one knows what life is like after death and no soul know what the death of death is but…what if someone did?


	2. Chapter 2

Once and then again

Chapter one

**i own Bleach, you hear me. i even have a piece of paper that proves it...written in my handwritting...in crayon...with stars, hearts and unicorns doodled in the margins...it's totally official...yeah, not a frantic attempt to steal the actual owners credit at all. shifty eyes, runs away, paper still clutched in hand.**

_Ukitake Jushiro and Kyoraku Shunsui where having tea and watching the cherry blossoms when the news came, well Ukitake was drinking tea, Kyoraku's cup smelt rather suspiciously of sake. The news came in the form of Hirako Shinji bursting through the sliding door behind them, sliding across the wooden floor and falling over the balcony in front of them landing heavily on his back. _

_ "Yare yare," Kyoraku slurred "What's the hurry." _

_"Isshin's dead!" Ukitake dropped his teacup, _

_"What?" the exclamation was harsh and sharp, unusual from the usually gentle captain, "Our Isshin, Yamamoto Isshin?" _

_"Do you know any others? Yes our Isshin, they found his and his wife's bodies out in Rukongai" There were leaves sticking out of his usually immaculate hair and his normal smile was absent from his face. _

_Kyoraku leaned forward his face, for once serious, in the face of one of his oldest friend deaths "you said you found him and his wife, what happened to the children." _

_Shinji winced at the mention of the kids, "Ichigo, Yuzu and Karin are, as of two hours ago, officially missing." Kyoraku's face-if possible- became even grimmer, Ukitake's mouth flattened itself into a flat line. _

_Kyoraku sighed, sake abandoned and looked up at the sky, "The old man ain't goanna like this." _

"Good moorniing Ichig…ack!" Keigo's usual morning greeting was cut off with a punch to the face that sent him flying backwards to crash into the wardrobe. He bounced up almost immediately and flung himself on Mizuiro sobbing pitifully. "Whyyy? Why is Ichigo so cruel to meee? It's not fair Mizuiro. Why doesn't he love me?"

There was a loud thump as Keigo hit the floor, Mizuiro stepped over the pile of the floor without changing expression he looked up at Ichigo, "Good morning."

"Yeah, hi." Ichigo mumbled from where he crouched, trying to rescue one of his shoes from under the bed. Keigo, recovering from his huddle of misery on the floor, took this as an opportunity to tackle hug Ichigo around the waist. He never even made it that far, Ichigo grabbed one of his arms and flung him, Keigo hit the door and burst through it with a groan. Ichigo started forwards, cracking his knuckles threateningly, on the side-lines and out of the line of fire Mizuiro watched with interest as Keigo cowered back, opening his mouth to beg forgiveness. Just as he was about to speak however a new vice cut in.

"OI, You lot get down here now!"

almost as one the three boys flinched and stared down at the direction that the voice had come from. Tatsuki, it seemed, was pissed. They might as well write their wills now.

The kitchen was, as usual, full. At the table sat Uryu, Orihime and Karin. Chad was standing in one corner, quiet enough in the bustle and noise of the kitchen that, despite his size, he managed to be somewhat inconspicuous. Over by the work surface Yuzu was quite happily running around making breakfast overseen by Tatsuki who looked up as they walked in. at the look on her face two of them went very still and Keigo started to subtly shuffle back towards the door. He wasn't subtle enough. Glaring Tatsuki leaned forward and grabbed him by the front of his school shirt, pulling him forwards and down until he was right in front of her face.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to break the house?" she hissed dangerously Keigo gulped and said nothing. "Oh I know it was Ichigo that did it, he's the one that always does it but really, we've lived together for six years, you know exactly how to push his buttons. Whatever you broke today WILL be fixed by tomorrow If you break this house again you'll be the one fixing it, d'you hear me? And you'll be fixing it with a broken arm." Releasing Keigo she spun and glared at the other two, "That goes for you as well."

Mizuiro, gave a fake smile and nodded hastily, Ichigo however looked sullenly to the side…and snorted. It was the wrong thing to do.

Xxx

Twenty minutes later as the dropped the twins of at middle school Karin was still laughing. Yuzu just looked at Ichigo with these big sad eyes, like she was the one who'd been hit, then turning the two of the turned and ran into the building, ignoring the whispers that burst out among the other students at their appearance; they made it inside just as the bell went. They stood there for a moment watching the kids pile into school before Orihime cocked her head to one side and asked, "Hey, if the bell goes doesn't it mean it's eight o clock?" her tone was puzzled as if trying to work something out.

It was Uryu who answered with a quiet "yes" as he pushed hi glasses up his nose.

"Oh, well, if it's eight o clock shouldn't we be in school in ten minutes." There was a brief silence that was broken by Tatsuki who summed up the situation in one word.

"Fuck."

**I have returned. unfortunatly all inspiration for my other story has shriveled and died a horribly lonly death, curled up in the back of my mind sobbing WHY. i have no answer for it, just as i have no answer for you. i have moved fandoms. my obsession now rests with bleach and I cannot dredge up the interest required to finnish the other fiction-especially as my notes for it have gone AWOL. sorry, but i buy you off with this new story that will hopefully prevent my public lynching. **


	3. Chapter 3

Once and then again

Chapter three

_It was Urahara who found them, quite by chance, two years later in one of the worse parts of Rukongai. _

_By this point Ichigo was ten. Karin and Yuzu-the twins- had just turned six. _

_It truly was by chance that they were found, chance that Urahara was looking for somewhere to test his latest invention where it wouldn't result in the destruction of half of Seiretei. Chance that he had chosen to walk through that particular area and it was chance that as he passed the run down shack that stood among the trees that out of the corner of one eye he happened to spot a shock of orange just visible through the window. _

_Only one person in soul society had hair that shade. Yamamoto Ichigo, only grandson of Yamamoto Genryusai, head of the thirteen court guards. If he was here it was unlikely that his sisters were far away, the boy had always been near fanatical about their safety. _

_Half an hour later Urahara was staring at the child in question in disbelief as the boy folded his arms, stuck out his chin and declared once again, "No!" _

_"What?" _

_"I'm not going." The boy scowled up at the man as if he was about to pick him up and drag him off by force, something that as the conversation progressed was becoming more and more appealing. _

_"Why not?" _

_"I'm not goin' if they can't come too." And there was. It seemed that during the years alone he had picked up a group of misfits and orphans, or maybe they had picked him up, either way when Urahara had entered the shack he had been accosted, not only by the boy and his sisters but also by and additional four boys and two girls. _

_It hadn't been pretty and he was ashamed to say that one of the girls had landed a pretty good punch to one of his ribs before Ichigo had recognised him. Urahara sighed and surveyed the group. They had surrounded Ichigo in an almost defensive manor and showed no intentions of moving anytime soon. _

_Slightly in front and to the right of Ichigo stood the girl who had been introduced as "Tatsuki", she was short, the smallest of the group with dark eyes and hair that stuck up everywhere. She was also, he was sure, smirking as she eyed the way that he winced against the throbbing pain that her hit had brought, god but she hit hard and fast. Across from her. _

_On Ichigo's left stood a miniature giant "Chad" had claimed to be the same age as the others in the group but with his tall height and large build it was hard to believe. _

_Three others stood behind them in a loose semicircle._

_ In the middle the "Orihime" girl, she looked rather delicate with a small build and brown hair that tumbled down her back until it nearly reached her ankles. _

_The two boys that flanked her looked rather similar with their dark hair and slim builds, the one on the right had glasses and the one on the left had a smile so fake that it could have put Gin to shame, well not quite and…hold on, he'd missed one, brown eyes wide Urahara scanned the room…there, in the corner with the twins clutching his legs and hiding behind him. _

_He looked terrified. Fine tremors ran along his hands and his eyes, half hidden behind the tangled hair that fell to his shoulders looked at Urahara as if he were a threat. He was also doing a particularly good job of hiding in plain sight, even without the use of kido or reiatsu. Urahara sighed again, scanning the group once more, all of them had above average reiatsu and the Taichou would have his head if he returned without the brat-as would several of the other captains-and Urahara rather liked his head where it was. _

_There was no choice then. _

_"Fine, you can bring the other brats." A large grin spread across Ichigo's face and Urahara was thanked with the rather unique view of six people diving at Ichigo, with the glasses brat and the big brat getting pulled into the pile-up by the violent girl when they didn't seem willing to join in. all in all watching Ichigo squirm under the weight of eight other bodies was almost worth the chewing out bringing the aforementioned brats into Seiretei was going to get him. Almost. _

People didn't talk about the Incident, at least they didn't talk about the Incident to anyone in That group.

They had initially; some had accused them of being responsible while others had just wanted the latest gossip. The boy stupid enough to try and goad Ichigo into confessing had ended up in hospital for two weeks.

The boy who had done the same to Tatsuki had ended up getting hit through a window.

Even Orihime, kind, sweet, ditzy Orihime had slapped someone for goading Uryu about it.

The boy who had approached Chad ended up in the same hospital as his friend-though it was Ichigo who put him there.

Mizuiro did nothing, he just smiled that same smile stood up and walked out, the next day the boy's girlfriend found pictures of him with three other girls taped to her desk- the following fight and the recent evidence of drug use that had been given to the head teacher had ensured the boys expulsion.

A gang had tried to beat the truth out of Keigo, they made the mistake of doing so near the middle school, the following fight had both humiliated the bullies and provided Karin's escape from the rumours. Karin's reputation automatically spread to Yuzu and the gossips barely had time to say one word before Karin was dragging them outside for a "chat".

They learned, slowly, but they did learn and soon every soul in Karakura knew better then to mention it, at least to their faces. It did not however stop the rumours, it did nothing to stop the dark looks that they received or even that one time someone had crossed themselves as the gang walked by-that particular event had caused Yuzu to cry for a week. It had also caused Tatsuki to track him down later and beat the shit out of the bastard.

The thing was they couldn't explain the Incident to anyone, no-one would believe them. The lot of them would be locked up in a loony bin somewhere and worse of all they would be separated.

They had met young. Tatsuki and Ichigo had known each other for years, since they were four.

The rest they had met on the first day of middle school. The group had quickly banded together, not only because even in elementary school outsiders were segregated but also because they found the other members of the group almost achingly familiar.

The feeling didn't cement itself until the whole group came round one day and met Karin and Yuzu. On that day both Orihime and Yuzu cried- Keigo would deny to his dying day that he joined them.

They felt complete.

Despite their young age they felt as if they had been searching for the others for their entire lives, they felt as if they would never be as complete as they felt in that moment when all eight of them came together for the first time. After that the twins were easily integrated into the group, going where the older kids did.

Happiness however does not last.

It happened when they were nine, well the majority were-the twins were just scraping five- that was when the monsters came. There was one other thing, one thing about the group that merely added to their closeness each and every one of them could see ghosts.

Ichigo was the first to develop the ability, Yuzu was the last. When the attack happened she could still only just see the humanoid form that indicated a soul.

It happened at the same time, all across the city, all eight of them were attacked. Monsters, that was the only word that could be used to describe the masked creatures that had come from nowhere towards them.

Uryu was a Quincy-the only thing that he had kept secret from the others, he had no problem fighting the creatures off, he also had no problem with identifying them for what they really were-hollow.

Mizuiro and Chad were similarly lucky.

Chad had no family, despite his youth he lived on his own and had since his grandfather's death. When the hollows attacked he did not know how to fight but at the same time he had nothing that he needed to protect, it was this that saved him. In this fight the only safety he had to worry about was his own and for some reason when armour grew around his arm he could not bring himself to feel surprise, instead he greeted it with the kind of nonchalant affection that you would an old friend and flung himself into battle as if he had been fighting for years.

Mizuiro was the same, he was estranged from his family and barely saw his mother, as such he too was alone when they struck. Out of all of them he gave the least reaction, merely tilting his head to one side and smiling as a shield of pure blue energy shimmered into existence around him. He waited it out, until the masked monster got bored and went away. It was only then that he let the shield down and lost the smile.

Orihime was not that fortunate. The hollows sent for her found her brother first. She merely found his corpse. It was then that shunshunrikka burst into life, forced into creation by her fluctuating emotions. Hinagiku, baigon and lily formed a shield even without her command. Tsubaki shot forwards, cutting the monster neatly in half before returning to his mistress. Only Shuno and Ayame were useless, no one can heal the dead.

Keigo's situation was the same. The hollows attacked him and the sister that had raised him. There was however one slight difference, he was there the entire time, he saw it all, he just couldn't help. Like the others his abilities woke during the fight his however was invisibility. That was all he did-faded out of view. He couldn't fight them and he couldn't even serve as a distraction. On that day Keigo sat huddled up on the floor sobbing and cursing his own uselessness as next to him his sister was beaten to death.

Tatsuki and Ichigo, Karin and Yuzu had similar circumstances.

Their family, their parents were killed and then they heard a voice, calling them.

On that day Karin, Yuzu, Ichigo and Tatsuki drew from the depths of their souls a blade.


	4. Chapter 4

Once and then again

**The lawyers wripped up my paper! and sued me. but that paper was filled with my love and effort damn it. oh well back to disclaimers. i own nothing apart from a very limited number of Zanpakuto and if you can't tell which ones i've made up you are probably in the wrong fandom.**

**reveiws would be much appreciated, i'm not afraid to hold the next chapter hostage until i get some. also due to upcoming GCSE's chapters might slow down for a bit and only pick up again once the exams are over. i appolagise to anyone who actually reads this and/or cares. (the current number of reviews indicates, none of you) **

Chapter three

_Not many people new about zero division, the captains and a few lieutenants. _

_It was small and it was secret and it was made up of only eight people but eight people whose powers had shown to be complimentary and who worked together so well that it was considered too much of a loss to divide them and place them among the thirteen divisions. _

_Zero did not have a captain but if they did it would have been Ichigo, Ichigo and Zangetsu, the heavy hitter, the main support, the powerhouse with the blade so large that it was constantly in Shikai. _

_Then there was Chad. He was the muscle, plain and simple; he was brutal and unforgiving, hard and unyielding. His blade was short and inelegant however in Shikai Taijuofunsai melted and pealed back to form a set of knuckle dusters. Those Chad could use and did, with apparent calm during each battle he was sucked into. _

_Tatsuki was similar to Ichigo just more brutal, more bloodthirsty, more eager for battle. Of all of them she would have fitted best into eleventh division. Her blade, like Ichigo's own, was large, a claymore that needed both of her hands wrapped around it before it could be wielded, Shikai then, came as a relief when the large blade was replaced with a sharp axe. Together Tatsuki and Kodakunaokami hacked their way through hollows, rarely ever did they take a hit. _

_Karin was more subtle. Her blade was nothing special in size however her Shikai split it, into four short throwing blade, each capable of defending from a hit and flying towards the target, capable of channelling hundreds of volts into the enemy without Karin ever having to move. Kaminarinokami lived up to his name and the crackling of those blades as they flew were often the last thing that the enemy heard. _

_Uryu did not fight, not in the way the others did. He was the method by which battles were ended. Rondeirukaze took the form of a bow and Uryu stood on the side-lines of each battle waiting for the moment that he would end it, waiting for the moment that the enemies back was turned. _

_Keigo was not a good fighter and he knew it, he had always known it and all his life-as he played the fool it was to make sure that people did not see him. The more you say the less people hear and the more you take up the spotlight the less people notice when you're in it. Therefore it was Keigo who was the least surprised when he one day activated Shikai and faded from view. This way he could fight. This way he could slip in among the fighters and-like Uryu put an end to the battles. For this Keigo was forever grateful to Sarentoshi who had given him a way of feeling, for the first time in his life, useful. _

_Orihime's blade, Shunshunrakka was one of the strangest, in its release form it took the shape of a trident. It was one of the most unique in soul society, the blade with the three abilities. Three prongs, one to heal, one to shield and one to fight. Orihime was not a fighter, she hated seeing others hurt even if they were the enemy however Orihime was glad to have the blade, the one that let her heal her friends and shield them from harm even if that blade did come with the ability to make others hurt. _

_Mizuiro's blade-Daichishirudo-was not a weapon of war and he was glad of it. Mizuiro had never been one to fight his battles with brute strength, he was far more subtle then that. The shield that his blade became though allowed him to protect his friends as they waged the war on the surface and he stuck to the shadows, occasionally joined by Keigo as he found the information necessary to bribe, blackmail, threaten and buy his friends way into safety. There are more than one ways to protect people and the blade he wielded gave him more options and, in some cases, bought him more time. _

_Of all of them Yuzu was the only one who had never activated Shikai, she had no need of it. No real need of the sword that hung on her belt. She was a healer, she did not fight, she helped. The only reason she ever used her blade was to give advice when there was a healing kido she could not crack or comfort when her best efforts just weren't enough. If Kidonosasayaki was sad to be used in this manner she never complained and if the blade regretted having a wielder who had no need of her she never once mentioned it. _

The days passed as they usually did.

The mornings usually began with Ichigo fighting Keigo, or Tatsuki fighting Keigo, or Keigo crying in a corner somewhere. the chaos usually began with Keigo at any rate.

After the inevitable scramble to get ready they would drop the twins of at school and then head over to their own. Sometimes the morning disagreements would make them late, sometimes they would not.

They took work wherever they could find it. The money that they had inherited all those years ago could not last forever. Sometimes they fought, hollows did still come for them, but those times were rare. Their days would have progressed in this fashion but for one thing, one event that occurred that would change their lives forever. Out of all of them, surprisingly it was Karin Who paved the way for change to begin, although, in a way, it was Yuzu's fault.

"I've got a job" was the first thing that Karin said as they sat down at the dinner table. Chad, Ichigo and Uryu had managed to get work at a construction site and so weren't in.

"Eh! Noo, only grownups have jobs, grownups. Karin-chan can't grow up! Don't do it!"

"You do know that No-one's listening, right?" At Mizuiro's words Keigo deflated like a popped balloon and ran out of the room in hysterics. After that everyone's reactions were rather subdued.

"Where?"

"Some candy shop."

"Ah. That's so cool so owner's really tall isn't he and has really pale skin and…and…ow! Tatsuki!"

"Calm down Hime and come back to earth. So this owner, he's not a pervert is he? I don't have to beat the crap out of him do I?"

"Nah, it looks fine. I was with Yuzu, near the park and I ran into this girl" Karin gestured with her chopsticks, "She was carrying these boxes and when we collided she dropped them. She left one behind and Yuzu insisted on finding her and returning it. The box was labelled anyway so it wasn't that hard and when we returned it her boss offered us a job."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah. He was a bit weird."

"And you want us to let you work there?" Tatsuki raised an eyebrow.

"That's right! We forbid it." Yuzu was only just able to catch the glass of water that had been knocked over by Keigo's wildly waving arms as he arrived back in the room.

"No-one cares Keigo."

"Mizuirooo!" Wailed Keigo once again reduced to wordless wailing.

"Ah, don't fight." Cried Orihime at the same time as Yuzu told Mizuiro to "Be nice."

Tatsuki ignored all of this, keeping her eyes focused entirely on Karin. "You're sure it's safe?"

"Yes."

"Good enough for me, you're going to have to tell Ichigo though."

"Damn…it was a bit strange though…"

"Why?"

"The shop keeper he felt…familiar."

The shop was small and shabby outside the sign read Urahara's Shoten. Inside the shop a dark figure detached itself from the shadows; it was a woman she had dark skin and golden eyes that glistened with something like sadness. The man turned, his hat shaded his eyes but he was obviously observing the new comer and it was him that broke the silence, "You saw."

It wasn't a question but she answered anyway. "Yes."

"Impossible isn't it. But their looks, how they acted, even their _names_ are the same."

"It could be a coincidence."

"Do you really believe that?"

"No. they're too similar." The man tilted his hat back and looked through the window up at the darkening sky. "Reincarnation, huh." He murmured and nobody was there to hear it but a black cat that soon detached itself from his side and wandered off into the shadows cast by the rising moon.


	5. Chapter 5

Once and then again

The plot thickens (or does it?)

**Thank you to the people who reveiwed, have an extra chapter, with greater length as a reward! I own nothing, not even all of my soul, my friend has a bit of that and nothing will convince her to return it. warning for swearing. I figured out how to seperate speach! whoo!**

_It was, Urahara mused, alarmingly easy to sneak eight children into what was supposedly the most secure place in Soul society. It had taken hardly any effort on his part at all. A quick trip to fetch one of his inventions, a short tutorial on how to use it and they were in. the devise was_ rather_ simple, it was inspired by something a friend had once shown him. It was a small globe that, once filled with reiatsu, would make the user undetectable. It was definitely one of his better ideas, the globe that was, smuggling children into one of the top-secret-super-important captains meetings was very much the opposite of a good idea. On the other hand Yamamoto would have burnt him alive if he said that he had found his grandchildren and just left them there. That little brat sure did know how to blackmail. "That is the conclusion of today's meeting, unless there is any other news that must be shared." _

"_Actually, I do have some news. I've found your grandchildren." There was silence as every captain in the room spun round, or, at the very least craned their necks to see just who had spoken, ah, fame. _

"_What?" the question was as hard and sharp as the crack of a whip and it came from the captain-commander himself. _

"_Ah, well" Urahara stepped forwards with a shit-eating grin that just screamed prepare to be fucked with. "I was just walking around among some of the districts hoping to find a quiet spot and lo and behold what did I happen to spy, a cute little head of bright orange hair just…" _

"_Get to the point." The captain gritted out, a slight increase in his reiatsu backing up the implied threat. _

_Urahara pouted but complied with a garbled, "I-found-Karin-Yuzu-and-Ichigo-but-they're-stubborn-as-hell-and-oh-look-they-come-with-extras-would-you-look-at-the-timei'vegottago." As he spoke Urahara had been edging backwards and with the last words had snatched his globe out of Mizuiro's hands and proceeded to get the hell out of dodge. There was a brief silence broken by the captain yelling his name in apparent fury, though the AWOL captain did notice that the yell did seem a little less enraged than usual. _

_Xxx_

_It had been a week since they had come to Seiretei, Tatsuki had to admit, it was a hell of a lot better than Rukongai. For one thing they got food! All the time! Whenever they were hungry. And they were being taught to fight, properly fight against real opponents with rules and training. Tatsuki still laughed in remembrance of the look on the instructors face when she and the others had dropped him. He had said to come at them with everything that they had; it wasn't their fault that he claimed not to have expected them to be that brutal. What did he expect? They grew up in Rukongai, brutal kept you alive. It definitely had nothing to do with the way he had sneered at them when he entered the room, or the way that he had yelled at Orihime ten minutes before that, for daydreaming or the fact that the chewing out he had given her had reduced the poor girl nearly to tears, definitely had nothing to do with any of that stuff. Not at all. _

_The thing was that before the eight of them had found each other they had been separated into groups. In each group it was pretty easy to see just who looked after whom. Ichigo, pampered, soft, Seiretei born Ichigo had had Karin and Yuzu, he had gotten stronger to protect them and once the guy had had the stuffing kicked out him a few times the boy had become as ruthless as the rest of them. _

_Mizuiro and Keigo had stayed together; whilst neither were particularly good at straight out fighting Mizuiro was quite good at protecting Keigo from his own hyperness and pulling him away from situations that the idiot would be likely to stick his foot in his mouth. _

_Both chad and Uryu were alone. Tatsuki was with Orihime and had stayed with her since they were really young and Tatsuki had found her getting beaten up by some older kids for the small amount of water that she had. That was how it was, when they joined together they all looked out for each other but there was an unspoken rule-the tougher kids looked out for the weaker ones and Orihime was Tatsuki's first responsibility in a fight. The instructor, with his broken nose-though even Tatsuki had to admit that it had been a lucky hit-was testament to that. _

_There were however some significant flaws with soul society. The most important being that snob of an instructor, the second being that they kept trying to make them learn manners and behave and follow rules. That sucked. The Biggest flaw in soul society though was that Tatsuki was starting to draw some rather disturbing lines between being powerful and being bat-shit crazy. All of the captains were insane! Orihime had immediately hit it off with that white haired sweet addict, how old was he anyway? Five? There was the pink haired pervert womanizer who had apparently known Ichigo's parents and who had decided to take Mizuiro and Keigo under his wing. Ichigo spent quite a lot of time with Urahara and Yoruichi one of which kept blowing things, and occasionally people, up. The other who got her kicks out of mocking some stuck up noble's son. Though actually that didn't seem like that much of a bad idea. For crying out loud though, the woman spent her entire time with assassins. Then there was…_

"_Hey brat, watcha doing?" _

_Him_

_Shinji_

_The bane of her existence. _

_One eyebrow twitching she spun round, "Piss off." _

"_Ah now, that's not very nice, is it Tatsuki- Chan, you'll never get a husband like this now will you?" _

_The eyebrow twitched again as she threw a punch, it missed but only because he was sent cartwheeling backwards by the sandal that hit him in the face. _

"_Hiyori!" he cried, "The hell!"_

"_You're annoying, shut up." _

_Tatsuki watched the argument for a few minutes before turning and storming off, leaving the long haired captain to the mercy of the blonde midget with worse anger issues then Ichigo and Uryu combined. He really pissed her off, with that smug grin of his and his fancy hair and that Damn hyperness that he always had. He was so annoying! As she walked she happened to glance to one side and saw across the grass Orihime laughing as she at sweets with Ukitake, Keigo was wind milling his arms as he went off on some rant about god knows what to a lightly smiling Mizuiro. Uryu was in a corner, under a tree devouring one of several heavy books that he had brought out with him. Underneath the same tree Chad stood, gently coaxing a small brown bird out of one of the branches. There in the middle, unaware of the events happening around him Ichigo slept in the sun, Karin wrapped under one arm and Yuzu curled up against his other side. Almost against her will Tatsuki smiled, after all Seiretei wasn't that bad, she could probably put up with the smiley freak. A loud yell reached her from where she had left the two squabbling shinigami, she twitched and once again scowled before stomping over and kicking Ichigo awake and flopping down in his spot, oblivious to his loud objections. Life was good. _

_Xxx_

Tatsuki's smile was scary and more than a little blood thirsty as she let out a laugh that was almost a cackle, letting of an air of almost maniacal joy. The dark blood that stained her clothes and the pitch black axe with its red blade didn't make her appearance any friendlier. Tatsuki was ignorant of this; she was having the time of her life. They were training. It was the only way they could think to get stronger and the only time that they could truly let lose without having to worry about hurting their opponent, though that was mainly because they were killing their opponents. They used hollow bait that Uryu had stolen from his father in order to lure the hollows towards them and then, when there were enough Mizuiro set up a shield. Orihime, Yuzu and Keigo didn't take part in these battles as their abilities weren't suited to combat. For everyone else though it was free game. Tatsuki loved it. She loved the fight, the adrenalin rush, the thrill of danger, the joy of victory. She never felt more alive than in those moments.

She ducked, diving forwards as a claw passed over her head, spinning she hacked at the arm as it attempted to withdraw then flung herself to the floor as an blue arrow passed overhead, splitting the hollows mask clean in two. Uryu smirked as he passed her.

"Do try to keep up."

That was a challenge if she'd ever heard one, furious she now flung herself back into the fray, twice as deadly in her anger. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ichigo take out a hollow that had been targeting Chad as he fought another two. The energy blast that his blast had produced however had stuck the glowing energy of the shield and cracked it. They would have to finish it up quickly, there were very few hollow left anyway, it shouldn't take long. Unfortunately it seemed that Karin too had noticed the problem.

"Cut the dark, Kaminarinokami!"

"Shoot" Tatsuki and the others dived to the edges of the shield. She was just in time. Four short swords hit the floor in a perfect square around the six remaining hollows, tiny glittering treads of metal connecting them as lighting surged along the metal and fried everything within the area.

Gasping Karin, slowly crumpled to the floor, exhausted, next to her one hollow, stunned but alive staggered to its feet, looming over the unconscious eleven year old. A blast of red energy, fired by Chads right arm took it out before it could stagger two steps and in that time Ichigo reached Karin and pulled her into his arms.

"Idiot," he mumbled to her, "You overdid it."

Uryu raised just one eyebrow, "Are you honestly trying to say that you never have?"

"Shut it Ishida!"

"So formal all of a sudden, Kurosaki-san."

Tatsuki laughed, as the four that hadn't fought ran over and started fussing over them and their minor injuries. No-one, not even Mizuiro, whose eyes rested suspiciously on the shadows for a moment noticed their two observers who, as they left stepped out of an alleyway.

One of them whistled long and low, "They really are exactly the same, huh." Pushing a green and white hat slightly further up his head.

"Not quite." His companion disagreed. Golden eyes narrowed as they watched the departing teenagers, "only some of them have Zanpakuto, and Chad, his powers never extended all the way up his arm."

"So, when do you think I should give Shinji that call?"

Xxx

Mizuiro yawned. For once they had arrived on time for school and he was sitting near the back, almost, but not quite, slumping in his sleep. He had had to hold the shield for almost three hours the day before and, while it was useful it was also exhausting as hell. He wasn't really paying attention to the teacher's speech although he did sit up when the teacher announced the three new students. They came from a small town, one new student was rare, three was unheard of. The door rattled as it opened and Mizuiro bolted straight upright in his seat as they walked in. there were two boys, one girl. Two of them were the same height and the third, a tall red head with tattoos near towered over them. The shorter two were a boy with spikey white hair and ice cold blue eyes. The girl had deep blue eyes that were an almost violet shade and black hair. Mizuiro didn't need Keigo's sharp breath, the narrowing of Chad's eyes, the tilting of Orihime's head or the clenching of Tatsuki and Uryu's hands to tell him what they were.

Shinigami.

**Yes, yes I am evil.** **the dark side has cooler clothes. and Grimmjow. and cookies. you know the drill, sing for your supper...a.k.a reveiw for a chapter. even if it is a flame or criticism. give me something to work with! **


	6. Chapter 6

Once and then again

**sorry for how long it took to update, like i said, busy with exams, that and the crippling dissapointment of not getting any reveiws. I would like to take this opportunity to point out that I own nothing, although the paper is being redrawn, and any insults to the japanease culture or mistakes made are completely accidental. just a warning, nothing much happens in this chapter although in the next one everyone's favorite emo comes to town. sorry for the dissapointment. **

A different past, a new future

_Everything has a parallel; everything has a fifty per cent chance of turning out completely differently._

_ In a different universe, in a different time, the head captain's grandchildren were never found. They and their group of eight lived, grew old and eventually died in Rukongai, they were never found and, when they eventually reincarnated no one realised who they were. _

_In a different universe, Ichigo met Rukia, she gave him his powers and he tore through soul society to save her. In this world, none of that happened. Ichigo's name and slight resemblance to Yamamoto's grandchild was passed off as coincidence, none of the others had been known, so none of the others could be remembered. _

_In this world things were different. _

_But certain things area set in stone. _

_Rukia did fight a hollow that was too strong for her. Only in this world it was Urahara who saved her. __Rukia was taken to Seiretei to be executed, this time however, it was because of her association with an exile. In this world Rukia was saved by her captain, Renji and her brother. Aizen still attacked, Aizen still made off with the hougakyou, accompanied by Gin and Tousen and Soul society was still thrown into chaos. _

_There was only one real difference between the worlds._

_One didn't have Ichigo. _

_Xxx_

"Abarai Renji."

"Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"Kuchiki Rukia. Pleased to meet you."

That was as far as they got before, amid the outbreak of whispers and gossip, a large screeching noise filled the room, followed by a thud. The noise was Uryu's chair pushing against the floor, the thud the sound of his bad hitting the table as he swung it over his shoulder. Face as emotionless as it had ever been he strode out of the room, the door shutting with a soft click. Rukia blinked in surprise as the sudden silence was broken by another boy, one with dark eyes and smooth hair also standing. He seemed to glance at the door in worry for a moment before pasting a polite smile on his face. "Miss, Ishida-san didn't feel very well. He's gone to the nurse. Shall I go too? Make sure that he's okay?"

"Ah, Okay."

Toshiro frowned as the boy left. As much as that had been worded as a question there was nothing in the boy's manner to suggest that he might be told no. his eyes roamed the classroom and took note of several others in the class who had half stood at the same time as the dark haired boy but had relaxed the second that it became apparent he was handling it. All of them had above average reiatsu but it was controlled, held tightly within them as if in an attempt to hide. One eyebrow twitched slightly at a burst from his left, it came from the orange haired boy. Correction, nearly all of them had controllable reiatsu. Lost in his thoughts he wouldn't have noticed the soft gasp if it wasn't for the fact that it came from everyone in the class at the same time. Startled he looked back just in time to hear the teacher place Kuchiki next to someone called Inoue and himself next to someone called Sado. At the back of the room a massive, dark skinned boy raised his hand as two tables away from him a girl raised hers. Abarai was already trudging over to his, next to the orange haired powerhouse that Toshiro had noticed earlier. A small groan escaped his lips at the sight of what happened next. Abarai had said something to the boy, the boy had ignored him. It all went downhill from there.

Xxx

"What the hell? Fucking strawberry! What's your problem?"

"You're the one with the problem! Who're you calling strawberry, pineapple head?"

"What was that?"

The two of them were standing, leaning towards each other as they hurled insults. Both had a rather noticeable vein pulsing in their temple. Around the class the other students watched with interest and a lot of worry as the fight progressed.

Ichigo glared at the stupid red headed pineapple he was fighting with; clenching his fist he pulled back and…fell back in shock as a hand slammed down on his head. Rubbing the newly acquired bruise he glared up at the culprit.

"Tatsuki, what the hell?" He mumbled.

Glaring down at him she raised her hand again in warning. "Stop causing a fuss, you're worrying Orihime."

Sure enough, across the classroom and next to the midget shinigami Orihime was watching the fight with large eyes and clenched hands. Grimacing a little Ichigo waved an apology, before spinning back round to face the front. Next to him the damn pineapple sniggered. "Whipped."

That was as far as he got before Tatsuki's elbow slammed backwards into his stomach. This time it was Ichigo who laughed. The silence was broken by Mizuiro and Uryu re-entering the room, Uryu subtly edging away from the other as he smiled his usual polite smile.

Xxx

It was lunchtime when the shinigami got caught. They were sitting in a corner of the field, Renji still scowling and insulting both the orange haired brat and the black haired she-devil. Hitsugaya sat slightly apart from them still bitter about the unfairness of it having to be him sent on this stupid mission to the human world. Rukia was trying to figure out what a straw was. Then a group of students sat down next to them. And started talking. Nonstop. Twitching slightly Hitsugaya tried to ignore them, until something they said caught his attention.

"I can't believe you got into a fight with Kurosaki" exclaimed one of the girls who was staring at Renji as he had just saved a drowning puppy or stopped a car with his bare hands. Basically a good deal of awe, a large amount of lust and the beginnings of hero worship. It was quite unnerving.

Renji shifted uncomfortably, "What's wrong with fighting with Kurosaki."

"He's one of them. No-one fights with them!" Exclaimed another girl, "They're dangerous."

Hitsugaya raised one white eyebrow, this sounded interesting. Near him Rukia had abandoned the juice box. "Why?" she asked.

"Okay, well there're seven of them and two kids." One of the boys explained "Kurosaki, the one with orange hair, is really strong and has a really bad temper…well I mean you've met him. Then there's Tatsuki, the girl who hit you. She came first in this female fighting tournament. FIRST, that makes her like the strongest girl in Japan…"

At this point one of the girls, the one still staring at Renji, took over. "They also have this guy, Chad, he's massive and foreign, you must've seen him. He only ever talks if one of the others is around, it's really creepy, like he only answers to them, like a servant. Then there's Uryu. I've never seen him fight but he's so scary. He's so cold and formal all the time and he always gets top in the school for grades. Keigo is an idiot but if you ever say anything to him all the others come down on you like a ton of bricks."

Taking back over the boy from earlier continued. "Mizuiro is creepy, he smiles a lot and he has blackmail material over everyone. The last one is Orihime. She's sweet and hot, got these really massive." The boy stopped to make a gesture that got him beaten to the ground by the girls of the group as everyone started to talk at once.

"I heard they were in the mafia."

"They have to be in a gang, I mean look at Kurosaki's hair, it has to be died."

"Yeah well I heard that the only reason they get good grades is that Mizuiro has a video of the headmaster cheating on his wife."

"I thought it was because they threatened the teachers."

"They all live together as well, alone! And have since The Incident"

Rukia frowned, "What incident." the other two leaned forward, the way it had been said you could almost hear the capitals. The point was only proven when everyone in the group tensed and glanced round before lowering their voices to a murmur.

"It was quite a few years ago, when we were kids…" the person trailed off, glancing round once more. "Their families died. All of them, on the same night at roughly the same time. It was _weird_ but you know the worst part, they found the kids there, covered in blood but unharmed and there was no evidence of anyone else ever having been there. That wasn't even the strangest bit. My uncle's a cop and he was working on the case, the bodies looked as if they had been ripped apart…by a monster."

Xxx

Up on the roof those in question sat eating. Ichigo stared at Uryu, trying to ignore Orihime who sat next to him with her own specially made packed lunch. He had long ago learnt to stop asking what was in them.

"So…what did Mizuiro tell you to get you to come back?" he asked, watching as Uryu's entire body seemed to freeze before shuddering violently.

"Something that is too terrible to comprehend." He muttered almost unintelligibly before turning back to his lunch.

Ichigo turned to look at Mizuiro, who glanced up from his phone briefly to answer. "I threatened to replace his Quincy costume with a shinigami outfit and hide his sewing equipment for a month."

"Ah"

Once again Uryu shuddered.

**please reveiw. feedback is my oxgen and I'm currently suffocating. if anyone has any questions i'll do a q and a at the end of each chapter. **

**for those who want to know (please excuse the use of google translate and any mistakes)**

**Karin, pierce the darkness Kaminarinokami (thundergod)**

**Yuzu, sing Kibonosasayaki (hopes whisper)**

**Keigo, dissapear Sarentoshi (Silent death)**

**Tatsuki, destroy and devoir Kodakunaokami (lone wolf)**

**Mizuiro, merge and protect Daichishirudo (first sheild)**

**Chad, rip apart Taijuofunsai (crushing weight)**

**Uryu, protect Tondirukaze (flying wind)**

**Orihime just has shunshunrikka and Ichigo has good old Zangetsu**

**Tatsuki came first in the competition because she lost las time to a broken arm, in this reality she has a magical healin fairy as her best friends ability so the wound was healed, so she won. **

**exams will probably interfere majorly in the writting of the next chapter so expect a long wait. **


	7. Chapter 7

Once and then again

Chapter six

**Okay, I lied it won't take that long for a new chapter to be uploaded, Goddamn procrastination and boredom both-I blame them for any poor GCSE results. I own nothing, think of it as a reward for the two new reveiws I got, Thank you.**

**As you all know i own nothing. **

"_I don't believe it!" Ichigo stood, head bowed blood dripping from the hand that he had slammed into the wall. Chad stood next to him, impassive as ever to an outsider although any who knew him could see his displeasure. Keigo was silent. Mizuiro was still. Tatsuki was nearly vibrating as she stood there, trying to supress her rage. Uryu's face was hidden by his hair as he stared down at his folded arms. Karin was hugging Yuzu. Yuzu was crying. Orihime was crying. _

"_I mean," He continued, "Urahara and Shinji practically raised us! Yoruichi used to come round and teach us kido and shunpo! There's no way that they would betray Seiretei." _

"_Actually, it was only Urahara being accused of betrayal. Yoruichi merely helped him escape. Shinji and the other captains and seated officers were reported to have been killed by the traitor." _

_When Uryu spoke his voice was impassive-dull-there was no sign of any emotional attachment to the ones that he was speaking about. It was that, more than anything that had Ichigo spinning round and Chad moving those two steps forward to grab the back of his Shihakusho, keeping Ichigo from launching himself across the distance and taking out his anger on Uryu's face. _

_Ichigo would regret it later but that wouldn't stop it from happening. In addition to that, Tatsuki would end up getting involved as would Karin, Keigo too, although that would be in a failed attempt at stopping the fight. A large portion of Seiretei's strongest fighters were dead or missing. It was not a good time to be fighting among themselves. _

_Uryu it seemed didn't care, as he reached forward and punched Ichigo, "Don't be ridiculous, of course I don't believe it. We grew up together at least pretend to know me better than that!" the words were hissed into Ichigo's face and were enough to get him to calm down and go limp in Chad's grip, muttering a soft "Damn it." Under his breath._

"_Instead of fighting among ourselves what we really need to be asking ourselves is who would want to set Urahara up, who would want those particular shinigami out of the way." This was said a lot more calmly but it was Mizuiro's words that caused everyone in the room to stop, whipping round to look at the boy in horror. _

"_No, what we need to be asking ourselves is who has the power to take on that many Shinigami at the same time and win."_

_There was silence for a brief moment before the room descended into chaos. Chaos that, surprisingly, was broken by Ichigo who spoke in a voice colder then ice, if anyone were to ever doubt Ichigo's position as the unofficial captain of Zero squad the authority in his voice would have immediately set them straight. "Keigo, use Shikai to scope out the area of the attack, take Chad and Tatsuki with you in case of attack. Mizuiro, I know you have some form of contacts, even if you refuse to admit to it, get whatever information you can. Uryu, look through the records for any Zanpakuto capable of causing this much damage. Karin, Yuzu, Orihime, see what you can find out from the other captains…be careful! I'll talk to the old man, tell him what we know so far…which is bugger all…and try and convince him to at least delay the sentence until we know more." _

"_On it."_

"_Okay, Ichigo."_

"_K'mon Keigo, if we head out now there might still be some salvageable information, we'll meet you there Chad, you're slightly slower at shunpo, okay?" ordered Tatsuki, who, along with Ishida would take charge in Ichigo's absence. _

"_Shouldn't we stay together?"_

_The room was a flurry of motion and noise as the group pulled themselves together and started to head out, Keigo was just grabbing a reiatsu sensor from one of the room's storage boxes when a startled gasp caught their attention. It Came from Orihime who was the closest to the door and was accompanied by the sharp iron smell of blood. Metal screeched as blades were drawn and the group as one spun to face the threat, they were met with the sight of Orihime, tears running down a pale face, smudging the flecks of red that provided the only colour. Brown eyes, once so warm and kind dulled as she slid forwards and off the blade that had carved through her chest. _

_It was Tatsuki who broke first, launching herself forward with an inarticulate roar of rage. She was the second to die. Her lifeless body thrown backwards into the wall which she slid down to join her sister on the floor, blade sliding out of an unresponsive hand. The others all attacked at once, Ichigo diving forwards, working with Chad to try and drive the enemy back, as Uryu backed into the far corner of the room, activating his Shikai and trying to get a good shot. _

_He was the third, his bow snapped in half as the blow pushed forwards, slashing diagonally across his chest and taking off half of his arm. Even had he lived he would never use the bow again. _

_Mizuiro was third, he saw their opponents plan before any of the others in the room and he was there, standing in front of the swing that descended towards Karin as she, in turn, attempted to protect Yuzu, the blow was deep, cutting into his shoulder, it was not however enough to kill him. He managed to deflect the second blow, but not the third, which descended even as Karin tried to pull him out of the way of the blow. It ended up hitting the both of them, slicing deeply through Karin's eye and along her face before being twisted to cut Mizuiro's throat. The two of them died together. _

_Chad was next, stabbed in the back as he tried to save the other two. It was a coward's blow and not a worthy end of the man who should have gone down facing his enemy. A back wound was usually a sign of cowardice, of a man who tried to run away. It should not have been the end of a man who never would, not if it meant abandoning those he loved. _

_Ichigo was next, almost the last to die. He did not even see the blow that cut through his spine, killing him instantly. He did not even have a chance to defend himself. _

_Yuzu was last. The fight had happened so quickly that she had not even had the chance to recover from the shock of Orihime's death and activate her Zanpakuto. Yuzu was not a fighter, she sat there, in a room filled with the blood and corpses of her family and wept, shivering in fear and grief and clutching her sword with white knuckled hands. She did not even try to dodge the blow as it fell._

_Yuzu died last and, because of this, she died alone, hopeless and helpless. _

_Xxx_

_The captains meeting had been even more subdued than usual, with the absence of a good number of its members, it had been so stifling that Kyoraku had actually been slightly happy when the unranked Shinigami had burst in to the room. Anything to end the boredom. _

_That was then, this is now. _

_The captains that were left stood in front of the east holy wall, standing in the exact same positions that they had been in when they had arrived. The normally pristine was dyed red with blood, brown in some places where it had dried. Upon the wall hung the nine children that he and Jushiro had claimed and raised almost as their own. They hung in neat rows, eyes open but unseeing, that however was not the worst part of the scene that they witnessed. In the centre of each of their chests rested the blade that pinned them to the wall and each of those blades were their own, dull and drenched in the dried blood of their wielders._

"_Captain…" Jushiro began hesitantly before trailing of as he got a look at the captain commander's face as he looked up at his grandchildren and the other teenagers that he had played a large part in raising. When he eventually spoke his voice was cold, commanding, with no hint of the underlying kindness that usually accompanied his words. _

"_Get them down. Now."_

_Xxx_

Two men stood in the middle of a large crater, one was large and muscled, a white bone running along the lower part of his face and taking the shape of the lower jaw bone. The other man was significantly smaller. His face was pale; his eyes a dark green, two black tear tracks ran down his face, although his expression was emotionless. He too had a bone like mask, his one covering part of his head and sticking outwards and up-like a horn. They worked for Aizen, having been sent to Karakura to find the reason for the town's abnormally high spiritual pressure; Tatsuki however didn't know that, she didn't know who they were of why they were in her town. What she did know was that the holes that ran through their chests meant. Hollows. Strong Hollows. Hollows too strong for her to take on alone. Cursing under her breath and knowing that she would never live it down, she pulled out her mobile, sending a message to her whole family, location, number and strength. The signal that they had all agreed on should something come up that one of them alone couldn't handle, it had not yet been needed and every last bit of Tatsuki's pride resented it being needed now. It was, however, necessary.

"Shit!" Tatsuki cursed, flinging herself backwards, the large one had done _something_ and the souls of the people around him had been absorbed, eaten. Whatever it was it was strong. It was all she could do to stay on her feet and then they were falling. The civilians, those with no spiritual pressure were dropping dead to the floor and there was nothing that she could do.

Then it stopped.

Around the area a large transparent square had formed, shimmering slightly with a blue light as Mizuiro separated himself from the shadows of a building and crossed the road to stand beside her. A second set of footsteps told her that her was not alone and so she was unsurprised when Keigo's uncharacteristically serious voice asked her, "Who the hell are they?"

"I have no idea." She muttered back, drawing slightly further into the shadows that concealed them. "They just showed up and started killing people."

Next to her Mizuiro winced as a cero was shot at his shield, it hit with a loud booming noise but the dust cleared to reveal the shield unharmed, although Mizuiro looked quite shaken up at the large drain in his energy keeping his shield up had cost him.

"They're strong." He murmured back, "A lot stronger than anything that we have ever fought before."

Inside the shield, the smaller hollow walked around the larger one until he was directly facing the trio, he looked at them for a moment before speaking in an emotionless voice, "Come out." It was spoken as an order, not a request, and Tatsuki was the only one who complied, striding forwards until she was just in view, Kodakunaokami already released in one hand, hefting the axe over one shoulder she turned an unconcerned gaze on to the two hollow, hoping that neither of them would notice the slight tremors in the hand that gripped her trusted blade. The three of them could hold these hollow off until backup arrived.

The large one grinned, "Hey, Ulquiorra, can I kill her."

The Emo, as Tatsuki had dubbed him, shook his head, in that same depressing apathetic voice he spoke, "We were sent here to gather information, not to kill anyone. That was not Aizen-sama's orders."

"Eh?" the giant exclaimed, "That's boring."

"You were the one who wanted to come." The Emo pointed out.

The giant scoffed in disgust and turned away, kicking the shield, only for his foot to be stopped by a blade.

"Oh shit!" Tatsuki spun round to face Mizuiro just as Chad and Orihime turned up. Due to the system they had in place Uryu, Yuzu and Karin should be patrolling the town and working as damage control to insure that less people got hurt, the twins due to being the youngest and Uryu because in a worst case scenario he could enlist his Fathers assistance (That was for really bad cases though-say, for instance, hell freezing over.)

"How did he get in there?" she demanded, feeling only slightly guilty as she took in Mizuiro's shaking form.

"They're producing a lot of reiatsu, it's hard to keep in. I didn't realise that I'd have to keep people out."

"It's Ichigo and they've been killing people, of course you're gonna have to keep him out!" her yell was only highlighted by the sound of Ichigo hitting the shield, before recovering and darting forward yet again, the only mercy was that the apathetic one was staying out of it. She cursed once again as Ichigo activated his bankai. The only good thing was that she couldn't sense it. Mizuiro's shield was doing its job and keeping the reiatsu within the area which at least meant that they wouldn't have shinigami sniffing around any time soon delving into their secrets. Gripping onto her blade a little tighter she ran into the battle. Chad activated his right arm but, as he made to follow he paused.

"Orihime, Mizuiro, Keigo, stay here. This isn't suited to your style of fighting and we need someone to take care of any injuries."

He waited until Orihime had nodded and Keigo had voiced his acceptance before darting through the shield, he reached the battle just as Ichigo jumped and the giant yelled in pain, his right arm thudding to the ground. In the background the apathetic one-Ulquiorra muttered the word trash under his breath and went back to watching the fight as if it wasn't his companion that had just been injured. Tatsuki swung her axe but it bounced of the giant's skin as though it were made of stone, then the giant did something impossible. From his hip he drew out a Zanpakuto.

It was only for one moment, barely a second but they saw the zanpakuto and they froze.

He was a _hollow _how could he have that sword? He wasn't a shinigami, he wasn't like Tatsuki, Ichigo or the twins. What was he? A second was all it took. His fist lashed out, smashing into Ichigo a flinging him backwards. There was a clinking noise, soft but heard by everyone. The hollow smiled smugly as Ichigo's family looked up in shock as both Ichigo's body and soul fell to the ground. They fell as two beings not one and it was something that all of the instantly recognised.

That noise had been the sound of the chain of fate…breaking.

**I've said it before and I'll say it again, yes I am a bitch. also I haven't ever really written a proper fight scene so any hints or tips would be appreciated. **

**I'm sorry if the beginning looked a bit to super Aizen but in their past lives they would have seen his release, so they would be subject to his illusions, half the time they were fighting an illusion while Aizen snuck up and stabbed while they were distracted. also about the building, this is actually how Aizen faked his death but come on, he's a right bastard, he would totally reproduce the scenario of their death with his own if only to mess with people and cause panic. **

**thanks for reading, please reveiw, also as i said earlier and questions will be answered **


	8. Chapter 8

Once and then again

Chapter seven

** have a new chapter, sorry for the wait. **

**I own nothing, we all know this, don't let them sue me-sobs in a corner. **

_They were an odd group, the collection of people that found shelter in the abandoned warehouse. strange and unusual and above all different. They were not the types of people that you would expect to see together, both their appearances and their personalities reflected that fact. They were not a group that you would ever expect to be…well, a group. _

_They called themselves the Vizard, eight beings that had previously been Shinigami. _

_Muguruma Kensei, previous captain of the ninth division sat in one corner of the warehouse, rather removed from the others. His hair was short, cropped, and a remarkable silver colour. In contrast to his hair he appeared young, his arms were crossed and he was, quite noticeably glaring at the woman who was attempting to cling to his arm. _

_Her name was Kuna Mashiro, in soul society she had been Kensei's lieutenant, his second in command. She was childish, pouting miserably at her captains attempts to ignore her and, as any who knew her could see, very close to bursting into a childish tantrum-complete with loud yelling and rolling around on the floor._

_Out of only two other females in the group was Yadormaru Lisa. Out of the entire group she was probably one of the most calm and the only one in the group that actually had a relatively normal appearance-Mashiro being out of the running due to her white jumpsuit and her green hair. Lisa had been the lieutenant of Kyoraku Shunsui, the infamous pervert, something that apparently she shared if you paid attention to what she was reading. _

_The only other female was very different to both the calm Lisa and the childish Mashiro, she was violent. She was also currently in the middle of beating up another member of the Vizards with nothing more than a slipper. She was small and her eyes were sharp and furious. Surugaki Hiyori had been the lieutenant of the research division-Urahara's division. _

_Hirako Shinji, previous captain of the fifth division and leader of the Vizard, was the one suffering death by slipper. The easiest way to describe him would be symmetrical, with a large Cheshire cat smile. _

_Aikawa Love and Otoribashi Rojuro "Rose" sat quite close together, having an argument over a manga plotline, the dispute was broken up every now and again by Lisa's input-although she had yet to look up from her book. Rose was calm, with violet eyes and long blonde hair-wavy unlike Shinji's. Love had spikey black hair and sunglasses. _

_The final member of the Vizard was Ushoda Hachigen, a large man who had once been the lieutenant of the kido corps. He had pink hair with a black skull and crossbones dyed across it. His size, like chad's, did not make him scary-it instead made him gentle, as he sat back and watched the fight between Shinji and Hiyori take off. _

_There was a crack that echoed around the warehouse which had all of them jumping up, hands reaching for their Zanpakuto. The man who entered the room was not a threat. Shinji blinked twice in surprise. Somewhere Urahara had found a ridiculous striped hat, it stuck out above his face and shielded his eyes from view. The noise had been made by Hachi's shield breaking. _

"_You could have knocked." Shinji grumbled. "What's the problem?"_

_Urahara's voice was cold, impartial, with no sign of its usual cheer. "Zero division has been wiped out. They were found hung up along the east holy wall."_

"_What?" the exclamation came from Shinji, whose face was pale and whose eyes were wide. Out of all the Vizard he had been the closest to the kids, being one of Isshin's friends it had been him, along with Jushiro, Shunsui and Urahara that had been mostly responsible for raising them. _

_Next to him Hiyori let out a low growl and swung her fist into the wall, "Fucking Aizen!" she, along with Lisa-who had looked up from her book, fists crumpling its pages as they clenched-had probably had the most contact with them after Shinji, both being vice captains to one of the groups surrogate uncles. _

_Surprisingly it was Rose who spoke next, standing and moving closer to the group, "Why?"_

"_Sorry, what?"_

"_Why were they killed? If they had been hollowified you would have said. Whipping out an entire division, albeit a small one would be suspicious, why take that risk?"_

"_We don't know."_

_Xxx_

Someone screamed, or maybe they all did, Tatsuki wasn't sure all she could see was Ichigo, her friend, her _brother, _lying there on the floor. Out of the corner of her eye Tatsuki could see Orihime, running, calling for Ichigo.

Keigo was frozen, so shocked that he had lost the grip on his invisibility while around them the shield wavered and distorted as the Mizuiro's concentration wavered.

They wouldn't stop her.

It was that more than anything that had Tatsuki moving had Tatsuki running forward and slamming into Orihime just as she passed the shield and forcing her back out. _Protect Orihime _that was all she could think of, she couldn't notice Ichigo's body lying still on the floor or his soul lying next to it. She had to protect Orihime, that was her job-had always been her job.

Chad didn't scream, out of all of them Chad was the one that spoke the least-even so far as to making others assume that he was mute. Instead he acted. As the giant drew back his hand to punch Ichigo's prone form he dived in front, bringing up his right arm and just about stopping the blow.

Hissing in pain he pulled back his arm and punched, sending an explosion of red energy towards the giant.

It had no effect and then it was Chad flying backwards, slamming into the ground and rolling, several gaping chunks ripped out of his arm.

Orihime had moved before Tatsuki realised that she was going to, darting out of her reach, souten kesshun stretched out before her, surrounding chad's arm and beginning to repair the damage.

The giant moved again and before Orihime could put up her shield, spinning round and hitting into Tatsuki and falling to the floor. A foot struck out, aiming for Tatsuki who, along with Orihime was pushed out of the way by an invisible force.

"Eh?" the giant questioned, the pale one behind him narrowed his eyes slightly.

The giant moved again, this time not even bothering to form a fist, reaching out towards Tatsuki with his index finger.

Dust exploded into the air as a loud crash echoed around the area. The dust and smoke started to clear revealing a glowing red shield behind which stood a pleasantly smiling man, head shaded by a striped green and white hat and height slightly raised by the wooden geta on his feet. Next to him stood a dark skinned woman with gold eyes and long purple hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Sorry I'm late." Chirped the man, far too cheerful for the scene, as he spoke the shield shrunk until it was absorbed back into the short sword that the man held out in front of himself.

"What?" the giant exclaimed, stepping back in surprise, "People keep popping up and getting in the way. In that case I'll kill you first!" the man laughed once as the giant's arm slammed down, before it could make contact it was stopped, halted by the woman's hand gripping onto his wrist. With strength hidden by her slim frame the woman tossed the giant over her shoulder, a crater forming as he hit the ground.

"Look after them." She instructed the man with a smile.

"Sure thing." He replied, walking back to where Ichigo was and waving at Tatsuki and the others to come over. Mizuiro stayed on the outside of the shield but came forwards, close enough that he could reach through and touch the others.

The woman was fast, backhanding the giant across the face and jumping up across his shoulders before he could even move. She kicked him across the back of his neck before slamming both hands down onto the top of his head. As he fell she moved again, throwing herself away from the body as it tumbled and landing nearby.

The giant hit the ground.

He didn't move.

Ignoring him she walked over to where Tatsuki was trying to help a stunned Keigo to his feet and carry Orihime at the same time. Reaching out she took hold of the girl and pulled her into her own arms, carrying her over to Kisuke.

As she did so the girl stirred, half opening one eye she murmured "Yoruichi-sama?"

For a second the woman froze, starring down at Orihime in shock.

"What did you say?" the girl did not answer having once again blacked out.

Behind them the giant twitched, startled the woman passed Orihime to Tatsuki and spun round, putting one hand on her hip and declaring, "you're a poor loser, aren't you?" as the giant pulled itself to its feet.

The giant roared, opening its mouth wide. In the back of its throat a red light started to form.

The woman gasped, "Cero?"

The sky was tinged red and for a second, just a second, the shield wavered and fell, snapping back into place a heartbeat later.

Standing in front of everyone at the top of new fissure in the earth stood the man, sword once again held out before him.

"Wha? The hell did you do to my cero?" the giant demanded, staring in shock at the smiling man.

The man in question tilted back his hat so that the giant could see his face. "It's just as you saw it. It would have been dangerous to simply reflect it and so I negated it by hitting it with a similar attack."

"What did you say?" the voice was low, dangerous and angry.

"I wouldn't mind showing it to you again if you like." The threat in those words was so badly hidden that an ant could have spotted it and the giant's eyes widened in fear.

"Sing, Benhime."

A red light shot forwards heading directly for the giant and at last the other man moved, appearing only as a blur as he disappeared and reappeared in the line of attack, deflecting the shot upwards with one hand. Outside the shield Mizuiro flinched and cursed under his breath.

"Ulquiorra…" the giant smirked, only for it to be whipped off his face when that same hand hit him in the stomach, forcing him backwards and onto his knees.

"You idiot, you're getting in over your head, these are Urahara Kisuke and Yoruichi Shihoin, you wouldn't be able to defeat them."

With that he tapped the air, causing a rip to open. The two men walked into it and within a moment it was gone.

One last time the shield wavered, before Mizuiro allowed it to collapse, running over to the others.

The man sighed rubbing his head. "Well, I suppose I've got a lot to explain, my name's Urahara, do please follow me." With that he spun round and somehow managed to scoop up both Ichigo's before strolling of. As he moved he called back over his shoulder, "Oh and do please call the others and tell them to meet us, it'll make explaining so much simpler."

Xxx

They had followed the couple to an old rundown candy shop, just as they had shut the door it slammed open behind them, two figures spilling through onto the floor in their haste to get into the room. One stayed on the floor for a moment as the other twisted onto her knees to face the group.

"Are you okay? What happened? Hey big guy, Orihime, what happened to those two? How badly are they hurt?" surprisingly the rapid questions came from Karin, as she stared at her family and peered over at the two most injured. A whimper from the floor got her attention.

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu had not gotten up, she was sitting on the floor tears welling in her eyes as she stared at her brother-two of him-lying unresponsive in Urahara's arms.

"What the hell is going on?" the question came from the doorway where Uryu stood; he had evidently found time to change and was wearing his ridiculous Quincy outfit, but his face was-as always-serious.

"I was just about to get to that before I was so rudely interrupted." Exclaimed the shopkeeper, somehow-despite both hands being full of Ichigo-whipping out a fan and fluttering it in front of his face. "Come, come!" The man practically pranced to the back of the shop where he pulled open a piece of floor to reveal a ladder that descended into a black hole. With a final wave of his fan he jumped down.

Xxx

Mizuiro blinked twice, barely resisting the urge to rub his eyes in shock. It was…a giant cave…basement…thing. Looking around showed an almost desert like scene complete with large rocks and dead trees. A quick glance up showed that the roof had been painted sky blue and even had clouds painted on it. Behind him Keigo descended the ladder and Mizuiro had to fight the urge to groan. As if on cue Keigo's feet hit the floor, sending up a small cloud of dirt and dust.

Three…

…Two…

…One…

"Oh my god! Woooooow! It's massive! It's like a super-secret base! Soooo cool!"

And there Keigo went, flailing his arms and running in circles. Mizuiro could almost hear the exclamation marks in Keigo's every line of speech.

"I'm so glad you like it!" cried Urahara, feigning misery, "So few people appreciate how hard it was to make this place. Building the room, making it undetectable, painting the sky on-"

"Getting planning permission." Cut in Uryu dryly.

Urahara pouted, "What they don't know won't hurt them."

"Yeah, unless they want to build a basement." Muttered Karin.

"Anyway," Urahara continued, dramatically pointing to the left (and therefore allowing Ichigo's body to fall to the floor) "Let the healing commence!"

As their heads all whipped round to see what he was pointing at they heard a muffled thump from behind them and spun back around to see Urahara throwing Ichigo's soul into a large pit: a large pit that had apparently appeared out of nowhere.

In less than a second they had moved, spacing out to surround him. Directly in front of him was Tatsuki-axe pointing at his face- to his side was Karin, she hadn't activated her sword but held it in a way that made it clear that she would and could if give reason. Behind him he could feel a surge of reiatsu that indicated a bow behind aimed at his neck. Yuzu and Keigo had retreated back to the injured-Chad and Orihime-Yuzu was ignoring the conflict and had started to heal the two, in the back of his mind Urahara wondered how she could still know healing kido but saved the question for later. Mizuiro stood protectively before them, shield in place. It was thin and paler then it should have been but it was still up.

Urahara shared a grin with Yoruichi who was sitting back on a rock watching the events with a smirk. He had forgotten, in the century that he had believed them gone just how much fun it was to rile them up.

Behind him he heard the bow creak and hum with reiatsu as a voice demanded through teeth that where obviously gritted "Explain. Now."

**sorry that it's not that long, I could(and was) going to make it longer- like twice as long- but i figured you'd prefer an update. **

**tell me, would you prefer longer chapters with a longer wait or shorter chapters with a shorter wait. if noone answers i'll be sticking with the short chapters but otherwhise i'm putting it up for vote. **

**also three cheers for the longest chapter yet (by about two words but oh well, still the longest chapter)**


	9. Chapter 9

Once and then again

**new longest chapter. i had to spend the day writing this in an attempt to feel competent, enjoy and reveiw. **

Chapter eight

_Isshin was pacing. _

_To be honest pacing was too mild a term for what he was doing._

_He was walking in a large loop around the corridor, every now and again he would pause in front of a door, staring at it as if it held the key to the universe and then the pacing would begin again. Screams echoed around the corridor coming from beyond the door and each time he heard them Isshin flinched. _

_Yamamoto stood watching his son panic, he seemed relatively calm compared to his son but on the other hand it wasn't his wife threatening to hurt him. Or at least never let him touch her again. Another wave of screaming came through the door, this time however it broke off part way through. Isshin froze and even Yamamoto moved forwards slightly- the hang on his staff going stark white. _

_For a brief moment it was silent, then it was broken._

_Thin and wavering but still strong a cry echoed through the room and into the corridor. _

_The door creaked open. Unohana's head poked out and looked round the room focusing on Isshin's still form, she smiled, "you can come in now." _

_Isshin darted past her into the room. Out in the corridor Yamamoto waited awhile-giving the family their moment before following them into the room. Isshin was leaning over bed staring in adoration at a small bundle that Misaki held. Yamamoto leaned forward slightly and managed to make out a tuft of bright orange hair. _

_Misaki looked up and saw him, managing an exhausted smile. "Hi, do you want to hold your grandson?" she leaned forward slightly holding the bundle out towards him. _

_Yamamoto reached out and took the child cradling it in his arms, he looked down at the child just as it opened its eyes. Clear brown eyes gazed upwards with startling clarity and the boy gave a gummy smile. Yamamoto's eyes softened slightly with tenderness as he looked down at his grandson. He hadn't held a child this young since his own son was a child and he found the feeling surprisingly nostalgic. Isshin grinned at his father, filled with paternal pride. _

"_We thought you might like to name him."_

_Yamamoto looked up at Misaki in shock and at Isshin nodding next to him before turning back to the baby in his arms. He thought for a moment. _

"_Ichigo," he decided, placing one finger into the child's strong grip, "One who protects." _

_Xxx_

_Ichigo was scowling. At eight years old he was not quite as intimidating as he had hoped to be but it got his message across as he gazed up at the three punks who stood before him, cracking their knuckles threateningly. _

"_Hey Strawberry, what have I told you about that hair of yours, flattered as I am that you're trying to imitate me that piss poor dye job just pisses me off." _

_Ichigo sighed before sweeping out one leg and knocking the older boy to the floor. He jumped forward so that he was kneeling on the other boys back and pulled one of his arms up so that he couldn't move. _

"_One, I'm eight years old, what kind of eight year old dyes their hair? This is my natural colour. Two my name does not mean strawberry, it means one who protects got it?"_

_The two others recovered from their shock leapt forwards to avenge their fallen leader, Ichigo managed to take one out with a punch to the face and was just spinning round to take care of the next when he was pushed away by a black blur crashing into his legs. Tatsuki looked up at Ichigo as the three boys got back to their feet, she grinned a feral smile at Ichigo, a smile he couldn't help but return as the two of them lunged forwards._

_Later, as the two of them walked home, Ichigo favouring one leg, Tatsuki with a gash running across her cheek, Tatsuki couldn't help but ask, "You know, with your hair a name like Ichigo is just asking for trouble, what were they thinking of?"_

"_I dunno," he replied "Mum and Dad said it just came to them. They said they thought it fit."_

"_Yeah well," Tatsuki pushed her neck to one side with a loud click, "Bet you can't beat me home…strawberry." With that she took off, Ichigo following with a loud "Hey!"_

_Xxx_

_Behind him he heard the bow creak and hum with reiatsu as a voice demanded through teeth that where obviously gritted "Explain. Now." _

_xxx_

Urahara smiled happily, "you know it would probably be a lot easier to explain if I wasn't being threatened." With that he dropped to the floor, leaning backwards on one hand and once again snapping open the fan. Cautiously Uryu sidled back into view and the kids formed a line in front of him, watching expectantly. Chad and Orihime joined them, injuries healed by Yuzu's kido.

"Well, as I told you my name is Urahara, I run a shop for those that are…spiritually inclined."

"I thought it was a candy shop." Said Karin

"Well, yes, it is disguised as a candy shop."

"Then why did you hire us?" she demanded, arm crossed.

"Wait a second, this is the guy you've been working for!" exclaimed Tatsuki in shock. "You said he wasn't a paedophile!"

"Er...I'm not." Urahara managed over the sound of Yoruichi laughing so hard she fell off her rock.

"You look like one." Uryu pointed out, fixing him with a glare, "I thought you were going to explain."

"Yes well, I was just getting to that, as I was saying, I run a shop that caters to the needs of the more spiritually able…people like exiled shinigami, humans with a high reiatsu, things like that. Well I was just taking a little stroll with my lovely friend when we happened to stumble across your fight. Naturally we couldn't just leave you all alone so we decided to step in. you'd think that people would be a bit more grateful really." He sniffed in mock sadness.

"And why did you hire us?" Repeated Karin.

"All of the people who work in my shop have above average reiatsu, you fit the bill." chirped the man.

"Explain what you did with Ichigo." Chad demanded harshly, tired of the man's stalling, next to him Karin fingered the hilt of her blade threateningly.

"What's with the hole?" Mizuiro asked.

"Well… this is where it gets a little more complicated…you know what happens when a chain of Fate breaks, yes?" almost collectively the group flinched and Orihime let out a strangled sob. "There is a way to prevent the body from dying however in order for that to occur he will have to become a shinigami."

"Won't that make him dead anyway?" pointed out Orihime, tilting her head to one side.

"Not in the same way, he'll be able to get back into his body and, providing he spends some time in his body without leaving it again his chain of fate should mend."

"What's the catch?" Tatsuki glared at the shopkeeper with blatant mistrust. "There's always a catch."

For the first time Urahara looked at them seriously, no sign of a smile on his face. "In order for this to work the shaft I flung Ichigo into speeds up the rate of the chain of fates decay. He will either become a shinigami within the next three days he will become a hollow."

As soon as the words had left his lips there was a blade at his throat. Urahara made no move to evade or block as he was pushed backwards. Tatsuki glared, an inch away from his face. He still did not move, every one of them, even the less observant, could tell that he had allowed her to get that close and that, had he not let her she wouldn't even be able to scratch him.

Tatsuki never looked away from Urahara, still meeting his gaze even as she issued orders to the others. "Mizuiro, ring the school, tell them we won't be in for a couple of days. Try and think of a good enough excuse that they don't investigate if you can. After that go with Chad and Orihime to the house, put a shield around it. Chad Orihime, go to the house; get everything that we might need for three days. Uryu, tell your boss that no one will be at work for a few days, do try and be convincing, no one ever buys the 'fell down the stairs' excuse you always use. You!" this was addressed to Urahara and was filled with venom. "You may be stronger than me but if you have turned my brother into a hollow then so help me I will find some way of hurting you."

With that she pulled away from Urahara, her axe melting back into a sword and then out of existence as she went.

Xxx

Two days and twenty three hours later and there had been no movement from inside the hole. Uryu, Karin and Tatsuki had taken to glaring anytime that Urahara came near. The tension among the group was so great that it could have been cut with a knife-something Urahara had tried before a rock to the head, courtesy of Karin, stopped him. Thirty two minutes into the final hour something changed. The hole exploded.

Xxx

It was dark and cold. Those were Ichigo's first thoughts; it was also really hard to move. As Ichigo lay there weakly the darkness changed, in the distance there was a light, as Ichigo squinted at it the light moved, rushing towards him.

When Ichigo opened his eyes there was light. Above him he could see the sky, grey and overcast as it was. Blinking Ichigo looked around. He was standing on the side of a skyscraper; the surrounding area was odd though. Parts of the area were made up of skyscrapers, tall glass buildings that stretched up into the sky. On the ground however, connecting each building together were white houses, with terracotta tile roofs. They were old fashioned and unfamiliar…and yet…at the same time it was a place he knew like the back of his hand. Those buildings, unfamiliar as they were, felt like _home_. Ichigo had taken two faltering steps towards them when a voice stopped him, calling his name.

Behind him, standing on a pole of all things, stood a man. He was middle aged with long curly dark hair. On his face he wore tinted black shades and his clothes were a ragged black cloak. Ichigo frowned, "Who are you?" he asked, deliberately ignoring the fact that the man felt even more familiar then the strange white buildings.

He man frowned, "What are you talking about? It's me, Zangetsu."

"My sword?" the words echoed around the strange world. "How can you be my sword?"

The man…sword…sighed and when he next spoke it was in a tone filled with regret and sorrow, "So you still can't remember. I thought there was no one on earth who knew me better then you. Just as there is no one on earth who knows you better then I." as he spoke the man moved, walking so that he was standing sideways on the pole. He still looked down at Ichigo, "Aren't you scared of falling?"

"What? No I never fall here. Sideways is how it's meant to be."

"Really?" the man smiled. "How did you know that?"

Ichigo paused and, in the moment he was still, he was falling. He fell towards the ground. Screaming as he fell.

Next to him the man appeared again, "You can still scream like that huh? If you have time to scream then you have time to gather the reiatsu in the air to halt your fall."

"What? I can't do that!"

"You did it as a shinigami. You will be a shinigami again. Find the box that I am in and draw me out before this world is destroyed. If that happens you will become a hollow." The man's tone was dry, as if he was pointing out something that everyone should have known. There was a splash as Ichigo fell into a pool that had appeared out of nowhere as, above him the man stopped, standing on the air as hundreds of white boxes fell past him into the water.

Ichigo was sinking down into the water trails of bubbles spinning up to the surface. As he sank he was thinking. Ichigo had never been good at sensing reiatsu, a source of annoyance from all members of his family.

"**Shinigami… I have to find the box that contains shinigami powers. How? How do you tell? Wasn't Uryu saying something about that…when I took out that hollow and nearly got caught. He was saying that there was a really easy way to tell. What was it? What was the way to tell?"**

He frowned hard, trying to remember and, as he did it came to him. "Red!" he exclaimed, almost sitting up in the water. Looking round, in a sea of white there was only one red ribbon. He reached for it and pulled the box towards him, flinging open the box he stared at the weapon inside. It wasn't his. The blade was thin and black. It had a square hilt guard and was slimmer than his actual sword. He frowned pausing. This sword, like Zangetsu, felt familiar.

"So you found it." The man was smiling, "You should remember this much at least. Now Ichigo, pull me out."

Ichigo grabbed the hilt, it was warm under his touch and felt…welcoming. Ichigo drew a deep breath and pulled

"Bankai!"

Xxx

The hole exploded.

The group darted to their feet, weapons instantly in hand, Mizuiro's shield already up. Orihime peered into the gloom, tentatively calling, "Ichigo?"

"Ichi-nii?"

"Nii-san?" the twins called, trying to get closer.

From the smoke a figure emerged. It was dressed like a shinigami except it wore a fitted black coat that was long enough to trail down to its feet. Its hair was the same vivid orange that the group could associate with no one but Ichigo but it was the figures face that drew their attention. The figure wore a bone white mask that covered its entire face. Two lines were painted onto the mask just above the left eye; the lines were painted in a dark blood red.

The figure held a sword in one hand, it was black and thin, nothing like Ichigo's usual massive zanpakuto. As they watched the figure raised its sword. Without thinking Tatsuki slid into her fighting stance, out of the corner of her eyes she saw Uryu raise his bow and Chad active his arm. Then the figure did something none of them expected.

He slammed the hilt of the sword backwards into his face. The mask cracked and a corner of it dropped to floor giving the figure room to slide his fingers under the mask and push it upwards off his face.

Ichigo's scowling face looked out at them.

The boy had time to let out a cranky "What the hell happened?" before he was jumped.

The twins dived forward to latch themselves around his waist, Keigo attempting to do the same only to be stopped mid-flight by a fist to the face, he fell to the floor sobbing about Ichigo's punch being just as strong. Orihime ran forward crying, followed by a slower Mizuiro, smiling in relief. Uryu and Tatsuki gave them a moment before wading in, hitting Ichigo over the head and yelling at him about rushing into things. Chad stayed where he was, waiting until Ichigo looked over at him before giving the thumbs up.

Over all of the chaos Ichigo's voice could be heard, "No seriously, what the hell happened? Why are you crying? Will someone please tell me…is that my body! What the hell happened to my body? Why aren't I in it? Tatsuki! Stop laughing and explain goddamnit!"

Xxx

It was night there…and winter. It was not usually, the place was most often spring, the clearing filled with lush green grass, the ring of trees surrounding it filled with colour and the ground around them dotted with bright splashes of pink and purple and blue that were the flowers growing there. Now though it was winter. The trees were bare, twisting up to reach towards a black sky, a bleak grey moon the only source of light. The grass was dead, drowned in a blanket of snow. The flowers were gone.

Music filled the area, the soft notes emitting from the centre of the clearing.

In the centre of the clearing knelt a woman. Her face was pale and delicate, framed by soft blonde hair that shone golden, two strands slid down across her face, framing her pure silver eyes that were themselves framed in golden lashes. Her hair was done up in an elaborate twist on her heads and held in place by a strange comb, it had only two large teeth and a long thin handle from which dangled a row of beads.

The woman wore a dove grey kimono that was edged in gold, silver patterns swirling across the fabric. The obi was a soft yellow and secured with a silver pin.

In one hand the woman held a shamisen, and in the other hand she held a bachi which she was using to pluck the strings of the instrument.

It was from this that the music came.

The woman was largely still, aside from the playing, she did not fidget, she did not shift. The woman was waiting and she would, if it became necessary, wait forever.

Fortunately she didn't have to.

There were footsteps in the snow, the crunching loud in the relative silence.

The woman finished the song before placing the instrument on the snow beside her, she turned around, somehow managing to do so without rising from her knees or wrinkling her Kimono.

The girl stared at the woman for a moment before flinging herself forwards, wrapping both arms around the woman's neck and squeezing as the woman's arms came up around her. The woman did not speak, merely held her as she sobbed, rocking back and forth until the cries turned to hiccups and then silence.

The girl raised her head and looked around, "What happened to this place? Everything's dead."

When the woman eventually answered her voice was soft, lilting, as musical as the notes she had just played. "Your world reflects your soul, when you are at peace this world is spring, when you feel joy it turns to summer. When you are troubled the leaves fall to autumn, you are sad so this world is winter."

The girl took a moment to consider that, "They're going to remember." She whispered in a broken voice. "They'll remember and then they'll know and they'll hate me. It was all my fault." Tears started to well in the girls eyes and the woman brushed them away with a gentle hand.

"Yes, they will remember and yes, they will know but…hate you? That is something they will never do. You are theirs as much as they are yours, you shouldn't forget that." The woman leaned forward and placed a brief kiss to the girl's forehead. "Go home, I'll always be here and so will they, they are your family after all."

The girl smiled a watery smile and turned, leaving the clearing behind. Along the path her footprints made in the snow small splashes of pink and green could be seen again.

The woman smiled as the snow began to melt, only small patched being left behind.

Spring had come again.

Xxx

Across the town, in a small sweet shop a phone rang, Urahara picked it up.

Across the phone, slightly tiny from the electronics came a voice, "Hey, Urahara, you rang didn't you, what do you want?"

Urahara narrowed his eyes, face hidden in shadow, "I think you should come back to Karakura, there's something you would be very interested in."

**did you like? oh the suspense would be killign me if I didn't write it and therefore know exactly what happened. **

**the thing I said earlier about competence well, for some reason word had fucked up a story that I spent the last year and a half writing. I had two chapters left to go before moving onto editing! for some reason all my punctuation and paragraphs are gone and a space has been added between every character! I have essensially got 120 full pages of block text and I can't figure out how to fix it other then going through it all manually. If anyone has any ideas please tell me, take pity on someone who had to write their fanfiction through tears of misery and loss. **


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